Longfellow Winter Ale Brewed by Shipyard Brewing - Portland, Maine

Longfellow Winter Ale was first introduced in February 1995 to hono the poet
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. A full bodied beer, Lonfellow Winter Ale is
almost a hybrid between a porter and a Scottish ale, with a distinct roasted
barley charater. A well-balanced malty hoppiness comes through initially,
and it finishes long and dry. Malts include crystal, chocolate and roasted
barley. Hops are Northern Brewer, Tettnang, Cascade and Goldings. ABV: 5.8%.
Available from November-January.

Beer Review by Beer
Advocate:
This is a nice porter, a little on the lighter side, a little on the sharp side,
but not a bad find at all. The beer pours a very dark mahogany with some ruby
tints, but largely impenetrable to light. The head is tannish, a bit creamy and
foamy, but it settles down quickly. There is a tad bit of lacing. The nose on
the beer is ringwood yeast, chocolate, toffee, caramel, and roasted malts.
Pretty good.

The taste is somewhat indicative of the nose on the beer. In addition to the
chocolate, toffee, caramel malts, there is a slight smokiness to the beer once
it settles a bit. There is definitely some scotch type ale in this beer, but it
has to settle way down before some of the finer background qualities emerge.
There is a buttery taste to the beer, but on the whole, the hop character adds a
nice bite and sharpness to the beer, that takes away any creaminess that may
have been present. As the beer settles, the sharpness segues slightly into the
more smokey scotch ale character. The beer is decently carbonated, not flat or
syrupy, with a slightly charred malt and dark chocolate aftertaste.

Shipyard Brewing Company
The Shipyard Brewing Company has been making award-winning, hand-crafted beer in
Maine for nearly 20 years. Now one of the largest craft breweries in the
country, the company has its roots in the picturesque seacoast village of
Kennebunkport Harbor, where, in 1992, entrepreneur Fred Forsley and master
brewer Alan Pugsley started Federal Jack's Restaurant & Brew Pub, the birthplace
of Shipyard ales.

The craft brew industry was just
starting in Maine and Alan had recently moved here from England where he'd
learned to brew under the legendary Peter Austin at the world-famous Ringwood
Brewery in Hampshire. The launch of Federal Jack's coincided with the birth of
America's craft beer industry and, just two years later, demand outpaced the
brewing capacity at the pub and Fred and Alan opened the Shipyard Brewing
Company in Portland in 1994. By 1996, the company was the fastest growing craft
brewery in the country.

Shipyard beers are all about drinkability, consistency and balance and every
batch is brewed by hand in small batches using only the finest ingredients,
including top-fermenting, multi-strain yeast from Ringwood Brewery. Try it and
you'll see why it's the taste that sets Shipyard's beer apart.